Keshad Johnson won the 2026 NBA slam dunk contest at the Intuit Dome in Inglewood, California, on Saturday, Feb. 14.

Johnson, a second-year player for the Miami Heat, did enough with his two dunk attempts in the final round to beat out San Antonio Spurs rookie Carter Bryant.

Bryant produced a perfect score on his first dunk attempt of the final round, but couldn’t complete his initial dunk on his second attempt, which made the difference in the contest.

Johnson showed a level of confidence and showmanship with his dunks and dancing on the court as a representative of the Bay Area.

Keshad Johnson NBA stats

Johnson has averaged 2.9 points and 1.8 rebounds per game in 37 games played during his two seasons with the Miami Heat. Johnson has also competed in the G-League.

When was Keshad Johnson drafted?

Johnson went undrafted in 2024. He signed a two-way contract with the Heat on July 1, 2024. His contract was converted from a two-way contract to a regular contract by Miami on Dec. 26, 2024.

Where did Keshad Johnson go to college?

Johnson spent the first four seasons of his college career with San Diego State, from 2019 to 2023. He decided to transfer to Arizona for his final season of eligibility. He started the last 107 games he played in college career.

Keshad Johnson college stats

Johnson averaged 7.2 points, 4.5 rebounds and one assist per game in 149 games played during his college career.

Where did Keshad Johnson go to high school?

The forward went to San Leandro High School, just south of Oakland, California.

MILAN — For the second game in a row, the USA faced adversity in the first period.

For the second time, a big second period led to a victory as the U.S. men’s hockey team rallied to win 6-3 on Saturday, Feb. 14, and improve to 2-0 at the 2026 Winter Olympics.

In the Latvia game, the USA had two goals disallowed. Against Denmark on Saturday, Feb. 14, the USA trailed 2-1 after one period because of two bad-luck goals.

Denmark’s Nick Olesen scored early after the puck went in off Zach Werenski’s skate. Then Nicholas B. Jensen gave Denmark a 2-1 lead with a shot from center ice that got past USA goalie Jeremy Swayman.

But just like in the Latvia game, the USA’s superior firepower won out. Brady Tkachuk and Jack Eichel scored 57 seconds apart in the second period, both goals coming after faceoffs. Noah Hanifin gave the USA a 4-2 lead.

Though Phillip Bruggisser cut the USA lead to 4-3 on a shot from the point with 2.6 seconds left in the second period, Jake Guentzel and Jack Hughes scored in the third period for the 6-3 win.

‘I mean, it’s just battle and adversity and do whatever you have to do to stop the puck, and I’m really proud of this group for staying even keeled,’ Swayman said. ‘The confidence never left the group and that’s a serious trait at this stage in the tournament. And the guys rallied and we got it done.’

The USA will face Germany on Sunday (3:10 p.m. ET, USA Network, Peacock) and can clinch a bye to the quarterfinals with a Group C victory.

What’s next for the USA?

The 2-0 Americans will face Germany on Sunday (3:10 p.m., USA Network, Peacock) in the final preliminary round game. Germany, which features Leon Draisaitl, Tim Stutzle and Moritz Seider, lost to Latvia on Saturday to fall to 1-1. The USA will win Group C and gain a bye to the quarterfinals if it wins. Germany would win the group if it beats the USA in regulation because the first tiebreaker is head-to-head competition. With Connor Hellebuyck rested on Saturday, he likely would be the USA’s starting goalie on Sunday.

Final score: USA 6, Denmark 3

The USA improves to 2-0. If it beats Germany on Sunday, it will gain a bye to the quarterfinals.

Denmark power play

Matt Boldy is called for delay of game after putting the puck over the glass.

USA power play

Christian Weise is called for hooking. Denmark kills penalty. Less than three minutes left.

USA goal: Jack Hughes scores

He takes the puck over the goal line and banks it off goalie Frederik Dichow for a three-goal lead. USA 6, Denmark 3

Denmark goalie change

Frederik Dichow comes in Mads Sogaard, who appears to have been hurt doing the splits on a save.

Denmark power play

Auston Matthews is called for cross-checking. He was retaliating for stickwork by a Denmark player. Denmark gets two shots, but the USA kills the penalty. Less than 10 minutes left.

USA goal: Jake Guentzel restores two-goal lead

The USA pressures and Auston Matthews feeds Jake Guentzel in the slot. His goal restores the USA’s two-goal lead. Zach Werenski gets the second assist. USA 5, Denmark 3

Matthew Tkachuk chance

Matthew Tkachuk is alone in the slot, but his shot is stopped by Mads Sogaard.

Third period underway

4-3 USA.

Jeremy Swayman statistics

He has given up three goals on 11 shots through two periods.

End of second period: USA 4, Denmark 3

Denmark goalie Mads Sogaard did his best to keep the Americans at bay as they piled up the shots. The Americans scored an equalizer midway through the second period, off a face-off, with Brady Tkachuk netting his second goal of the Olympics. The U.S. scored again off a draw at 10:23, with Jack Eichel ripping a shot from the right circle to make it 3-2.

The U.S. moved ahead, 4-2 with 2:37 to go when Noah Hanifin scored on a rebound, the puck clipping the post on its way into Denmark’s net. That was part of a 15-4 advantage in shots for the Americans just in the second period. The Danes scored with 2.6 seconds on the clock to make it 4-3, with Phillip Bruggisser firing a shot from the blue line.

Denmark goal: Denmark scores in final seconds of period

Phillip Bruggisser’s point shot beats Jeremy Swayman with 2.6 seconds left in the second period to cut the USA’s lead to one. USA 4, Denmark 3

USA goal: Noah Hanifin adds to USA lead

Noah Hanifin’s shot squeezes through Mads Sogaard for a two-goal lead. USA 4, Denmark 2.

USA goal: Jack Eichel gives USA lead

Another USA goal off a faceoff. Jack Eichel picks up a loose puck and beats Mads Sogaard. That’s two USA goals in 57 seconds for the lead. USA 3, Denmark 2

USA goal: Brady Tkachuk ties game

Jack Eichel win a faceoff and the puck goes to Brady Tkachuk, who rips a shot past Mads Sogaard, his Senators teammate, at 9:26. USA 2, Denmark 2

USA power play

Patrick Russell slashes the stick out of Brady Tkachuk’s hand after a USA scoring chance. USA had two power-play goals in the opener against Latvia. Denmark kills the penalty, allowing one U.S. shot.

Second period underway

Denmark leads 2-1.

End of first period: Denmark 2, USA 1

The Danes grabbed momentum early on a goal from Nick Olesen just 1:40 into the game. Matt Boldy answered for the Americans two minutes later, scoring on Mads Sogaard. The Danes moved ahead again at 11:16 on a goal from Nicholas B. Jensen, firing a shot from right in front of the U.S. bench that slipped by Jeremy Swayman. Malte Setkov had an assist on that goal. The Danes kept their game simple, focusing on keeping the puck out of their zone and making sure Sogaard could see the puck. Sogaard made 11 saves in the first period to five by Swayman.

Brady Tkachuk mixes it up

The USA has a little flurry at the end, but Mads Sogaard keeps it 2-1 Denmark. Brady Tkachuk gets involved with a Danish player as the period ends. No penalties.

Denmark goal: Jeremy Swayman lets in long shot

Nicholas B. Jensen scores on a shot from just inside the red line. The puck went past a USA player and goalie Jeremy Swayman wasn’t able to pick it up for a Denmark goal at 11:16. Denmark 2, USA 1

Denmark power play

Dylan Larkin is called for holding. USA kills it off.

USA goal: Matt Boldy ties game

Matt Boldy picks up a rebound of his shot on goalie Mads Sogaard, goes behind the net and scores on a wraparound at 3:35. Quinn Hughes and Jaccob Slavin get the assists. USA 1, Denmark 1

Denmark goal: Denmark scores early

Nick Oleson scores at 1:40 for Denmark after a Zach Werenski turnover. The puck goes in off the skate of Werenski after Jeremy Swayman makes a save on Oleson. Denmark 1, USA 0

Game underway

USA’s Jeremy Swayman vs. Denmark’s Mads Sogaard in net. The Tkachuk line starts for the USA.

Olympic men’s hockey schedule and scores today

All times Eastern

• Group B – Sweden 5, Slovakia 3
• Group C – Latvia 4, Germany 3
• Group B – Finland 11, Italy 0
• Group C – USA 6, Denmark 3

Watch Olympic men’s hockey

Watch Olympic men’s hockey on Peacock

Team USA lines vs Denmark

USA vs Denmark predictions

• Mike Brehm: USA 4, Denmark 2.
• Jace Evans: USA 5, Denmark 2.

Full predictions

Jeremy Swayman helped USA win world championships

Swayman, who’s facing Denmark, didn’t play in the 4 Nations Face-Off. But he did help the USA get a rare gold medal at the 2025 world championships. He went 7-0 with a 1.69 goals-against average and .921 save percentage at the tournament, including a shutout in the championship game against Switzerland.

USA, Denmark, Greenland politics just ‘outside noise’

The political aspect of Denmark and the U.S. meeting in the Olympics stems from U.S. President Donald Trump’s repeated demands that Greenland, an autonomous territory of the Kingdom of Denmark, should belong to the U.S.

‘We’re not used to being in the news that much,’ said Lars Eller, a forward with the Ottawa Senators who has played 1,116 games in the NHL. ‘But I feel like every week there’s something new, and whatever was in the news last week is forgotten quickly and we move on.

‘I don’t think it’s on any of our minds what’s going on politically in the world. It’s outside noise and in the profession we’re in, you have to be good at tuning out the outside noise.’

Why are there no fights in Olympic hockey?

International Ice Hockey Federation prohibits fighting, and it could lead to an ejection and a suspension.

‘Fighting is not part of international ice hockey’s DNA,’ the organization states in Rule 46 of the IIHF rulebook.

‘Players who willingly, participate in a ‘brawl/fight’ so-called ‘willing combatants,’ shall be penalized accordingly by the referee(s) and may be ejected from the game,’ the rulebook says. ‘Further supplementary discipline may be imposed.’

How long is NHL Olympic break?

The NHL will take a break from Feb. 6-24 for the 2026 Winter Olympics. No trades can take place during the Olympic break.

How the Olympics men’s hockey tournament works

The 12 teams are divided into three groups. They are:

• Group A: Canada, Switzerland, Czechia, France
• Group B: Finland, Sweden, Slovakia, Italy
• Group C: USA, Germany, Latvia, Denmark

Teams play one game each against the other three teams in their group. Countries get three points for a regulation win, two for an overtime win, one for an overtime/shootout loss and zero for a regulation loss.

After the preliminary round is complete, teams are seeded 1 through 12 under the following criteria:

• Higher position in the group
• Higher number of points
• Better goal difference
• Higher number of goals scored for
• Better IIHF world ranking

The top four teams (group winners and best second-place team) get a bye to the quarterfinals. Teams 5-12 play in a qualifying round, with the winners going to the quarterfinals.

When is the Olympic men’s hockey tournament?

The tournament started Feb. 11 with two games. The USA opened play Feb. 12 against Latvia. All teams will play three games during the round robin, which runs through Feb. 15. The top four teams get byes to the quarterfinals.

Playoff qualification games are on Feb. 17 for teams ranked fifth through 12th, quarterfinals are Feb. 18 and semifinals are Feb. 20.

The bronze medal game is Feb. 21 and the gold medal game is Sunday, Feb. 22.

The 2026 NBA Slam Dunk Contest was an exciting finale to NBA All-Star Saturday Night, held at the Intuit Dome in Inglewood, California, on Feb. 14.

It was a dunk show featuring San Antonio Spurs forward Carter Bryant, Los Angeles Lakers center Jaxson Hayes, Miami Heat forward Keshad Johnson, and Orlando Magic guard Jase Richardson.

A second-year forward out of Arizona, Johnson was crowned champion of the slam dunk Contest. An Oakland native, Johnson represented for the Bay Area from his introduction to every dunk, which was followed by a little dance.

‘First and foremost, thank my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, for allowing me to be here. Everybody’s journey is different,’ Johnson said. ‘So all the kids out there, keep dreaming. Have crazy faith. Crazy faith, not just regular faith. Have crazy faith. Anything can happen.’

Johnson danced his way to victory with showstopping dunks, showing an array of moves and love to California along the way.

‘I just came out here and showed the people who Showtime was. We had all the legends out. I’m from California, brought my own Bay Area swag to L.A. We’re all one. It’s for the whole West Coast right here, baby,’ Johnson said. ‘In the Bay, we do it a little different, you know, we got our own little swag. So I had to bring the legend E-40 out, you know? And do my little thizz, do my little smeeze, put on, you know. And I’m also taking this back to the 305, in Miami too.’

Johnson said it’s a blessing to be in his shoes.

‘I would just say like the blessing that God give me, it’s abundant,’ he said. ‘They keep flooding, they keep flooding, and it’s really beyond, beyond my comprehension. So that’s why I just have to take a second and really thank Him. I’m speechless right now. It’s the Lord. I give it all credit to the Lord, all glory to God.’

Check out the highlights from the 2026 slam dunk contest, including all dunks and scores from the competition.

2026 NBA Slam Dunk Contest highlights

The dunk competition order in the first round went as followed:

• Carter Bryant, San Antonio Spurs
• Jase Richardson, Orlando Magic
• Keshad Johnson, Miami Heat
• Jaxson Hayes, Los Angeles Lakers

Check out some of the dunks and highlights from Saturday’s slam dunk showcase:

NBA Slam Dunk Contest: First Round

Spurs guard and Southern California-native Carter Bryant got things going as he walked on to the floor with ‘Still Dre’ by Dr. Dre playing in the background.

His first dunk was an ode to Vince Carter, as Bryant pulled out a 360-degree windmill jam.

He scored a 45.6 on the first dunk.

Jase Richardson, who is the son of 2002 and 2003 NBA dunk contest winner Jason Richardson, opened with a tribute to his pops.

He served up a self-toss, double-pump reverse windmill jam. He scored a 45.4 on his first attempt.

Take a look at his dad’s dunk over 20 years ago.

Keshad Johnson represented for the Bay Area, the Oakland native bringing out legendary rapper E-40, as they were giggin’ and going dumb to 40 Water’s ‘Tell Me When To Go.’

For his dunk choice, Johnson brought out a rock-the-cradle, Dr. J-esque type dunk as he leaped over E-40, while displaying the hand over the head, Karl ‘Mailman’ Malone style.

To cap his dunk, he gave the fans his best dougie. He scored a 47.4 for the dunk, not the dance.

Lakers center Jaxson Hayes seemed a little nervous and had a less-than-impressive first dunk, but he was saved by Dwight Howard, a judge, who gave a generous 47 score to keep the fellow big man in contention.

Hayes scored a 44.6 overall.

Hayes scored the lowest on his first dunk so he was the first to land a second dunk. For his second choice, he decided to spice things up a bit.

The Lakers’ seventh-year center went with a self-toss, tap to himself before going for an East Bay, between-the-legs funk dunk. He was awarded a 47.2 on the second dunk.

Richardson couldn’t get a clean toss and couldn’t get a great look for a slam. He even fell hard on his back and was down for a split second.

He sprang back up and completed a 360-degree dunk, which earned him a 43.4 for the second dunk.

Bryant, on his second dunk, gave the crowd a self-toss, windmill jam where he nearly saw inside of the rim he was so high. He earned a 49.2 on the dunk. He advanced to the final round.

Johnson, who earned the nickname ‘Flight 305,’ scored a 45.4 on his second dunk, which was a reverse cradle, two-hand slam. He advanced to the final round with the jam.

Johnson ‘squabbled up’ after the dunk, this dance being more LA-inspired, fitting for the site of All-Star weekend.

Final Round: Carter Bryant vs. Keshad Johnson

Johnson opened the final round with a self-toss, between-the-legs reverse dunk. He scored a nearly-perfect, 49.6 score for his first dunk of the final round.

His dance afterwards, just a little smeeze dance, another ode to the Bay Area.

Bryant, in the final round, answered Johnson’s opening dunk with a jaw-dropping jam of his own. Bryant brought out the self-toss, between-the-legs at the front of the rim.

He was given a perfect 50 for the action.

Johnson, for his final dunk attempt, responded with a one-handed windmill from just inside the free throw line. He got a 47.8 score which put him in position to secure the win.

It was Bryant’s contest to win but multiple misses in the final round as time ticked down led to his demise. He attempted a between-the-legs self-toss, 180-degree reverse two-hand jam. He never made it.

He wouldn’t go without a jam, finishing with a 360-degree slam as the dunk clock wound down. He earned a 43 for it.

Unaware of the rules, Bryant could’ve allowed time to expire and chose one dunk to attempt.

MILAN – The American men’s hockey team improved to 2-0 in group play with a victory against another underdog.

The U.S. men’s hockey team, loaded with 25 NHLers, won its second preliminary game of the 2026 Winter Olympics on Saturday, Feb. 14, defeating Group C cohort Denmark, 6-3, at Milano Santagiulia Ice Hockey Arena.

The Danes scored first, led twice in the first period and made it a one-goal game with seconds to spare in the second period. The Americans, with Jeremy Swayman in goal, outshot the Danes 15-4 in the second period, again showing off their depth against an underdog team just like in the game against Latvia.

The U.S. finishes preliminary play Sunday against Germany. Canada already has claimed the top spot in Group A, and Slovakia advances to the quarterfinals, too, by winning Group B.

The Danes kept their game plan simple: Try to do their best to keep the puck out of their zone and if not, make sure Mads Sogaard saw the shots. The Danes opted to save their top netminder, Frederik Andersen, for their Sunday match against Latvia.

Huge underdogs as they were against the U.S, the Danes got a huge boost 1:40 into the game on a goal from Nick Olesen. Matt Boldy replied for the Americans two minutes later.

The shocker of the period was Denmark’s second goal, scored by Nicholas B. Jensen at 11:16 when he fired a shot while near his own bench that somehow slipped by Swayman.

Brady Tkachuk and Jack Eichel scored off draws midway through the second period to put the U.S. up by a goal. The U.S. moved ahead 4-2 with 2:37 to go when Noah Hanifin scored on a rebound, the puck clipping the post on its way into Denmark’s net. That was part of a 15-4 advantage in shots for the Americans just in the second period. But the Danes’ fourth one was a doozy: Swayman gave up a slap shot from the blue line with 2.6 seconds on the clock after Vincent Trocheck lost the draw.

Jake Guentzel scored at 7:24 of the third period. Sogaard exited the game with 8:53 to play in regulation after appearing to hurt his groin or hip while making a save, ceding Denmark’s net to Frederik Dichow. Jack Hughes scored with 5:33 to play, fending off Denmark’s Jesper Jensen Aabo to make further strengthen the U.S.’ goal differential in the standings.

When asked if he and the “old heads” team, which also features LeBron James, would play hard in this year’s NBA All-Star Game, which is once again debuting a new format, Durant called out Luka Doncic and Nikola Jokic for their efforts in recent All-Star games. He wondered why they don’t face the same criticism his generation of Americans do. 

“They don’t care about the game at all. These dudes be laying on the floor, they shoot from halfcourt, but you’ve got to worry about the ‘old heads’ playing hard,” Durant told reporters in Houston on Wednesday, Feb. 11. “I can read between the lines.”

How about reading the room, first?

However accurate Durant’s whataboutism concerning his European counterparts may well be, one of the NBA’s greatest scorers is completely missing the point. They learned it from somewhere. But Durant’s not alone here, and it’s threatening the very product that made all these NBA players, executives and owners so rich over the years.   

It’s long overdue for the NBA to show it still really cares – about the fans, about the quality of its regular season, about the integrity of the entire enterprise. The NBA’s check engine light is flashing as the league commences its annual All-Star break, and those with any kind of power should be looking under the hood. The paint job from that lucrative new media rights deal can only hide the issues for so long. 

But the NBA All-Star Game returns to Los Angeles in 2026 not as a celebration of basketball, but instead as a convention for complaining about the state of the league. Just consider the potential questions and controversies NBA Commissioner Adam Silver could have to address when he speaks to reporters, any one of which is a big problem on its own. 

• Tanking has gotten so egregious this season, and started so early in the schedule, that Silver had to fine the Utah Jazz and Indiana Pacers this week. There are at least eight NBA teams who won’t be actively trying to win games over the next two months. Even the players are beginning to question what’s happening publicly, with Golden State Warriors star Draymond Green noting on his podcast, ”It’s more blatant than it’s ever been. It’s ridiculous and it’s killing the product.”

• A current NBA player (Terry Rozier) was indicted by the federal government for allegedly faking an injury and removing himself from an NBA game for gambling purposes and a current head coach and Hall of Fame player (Chauncey Billups) was indicted for his alleged involvement in illegal poker games with Mafia ties.

• The NBA still hasn’t completed its investigation into the September 2025 report from Pablo Torre that the Los Angeles Clippers circumvented the salary cap by facilitating a $28 million ‘no-show endorsement contract’ for Kawhi Leonard under the table when it signed him in 2019. 

This doesn’t even take into account that one NBA owner could be supplying the Russian Army with wireless communications during its war against Ukraine, or that several people with NBA connections were mentioned in the Epstein files, or that so many of the league’s stars are out injured right now, or that one of those stars recently became a minority investor in a major predictions market, or that the analytics revolution in the NBA has begat a generation of league executives beholden to numbers instead of fans. 

But that all means what Silver says is far more important this weekend than whatever takes place on the basketball court.

It’s a good thing the players don’t care about the All-Star Game anyways.

Damian Lillard hasn’t played in a single NBA game this season, but he returned to competition to participate in the 3-point shooting contest during All-Star Weekend at the Intuit Dome in Inglewood, California, on Saturday, Feb. 14.

Lillard found familiar success in his return and joined Larry Bird and Craig Hodges as the only players in NBA history to win the 3-point shooting contest three times. He had won the contest in 2023 and 2024.

Lillard spent the prior two seasons with the Milwaukee Bucks after spending the first 11 years of his career with the Portland Trail Blazers. Lillard suffered a torn Achilles tendon last season in the playoffs while with the Bucks.

Damian Lillard wins the 3-point contest

Devin Booker falls short in 3-point contest

Lillard scored 29 points in the final round and set the score that Devin Booker of the Phoenix Suns needed to beat. Booker had a hot start to his performance but finished with 27 points, falling short of Lillard’s total.

Kon Knueppel competes in 3-point contest’s final round

Booker finished the first round with the highest score, 30. Charlotte Hornets rookie Kon Knueppel was the third member to advance to the final round after finishing the opening round tied with Lillard at 27.

Knueppel finished 4-of-5 on the first rack of the final round but struggled to keep the pace throughout the rest of the racks. He finished the final round with just 17 points.

NBA All-Star 3-point Contest complete highlights

The only true wisdom is in knowing you know nothing.

As Ilia Malinin’s voiceover to his free skate song began, you could see the tension in his face, and the tightness in his performance.

If you are a sports parent, you have probably been there, and the feeling is excruciating.

When you watch your son or daughter perform during a tense game – maybe a district championship or sectional final – you exhale at the end, not so much because of how they did, but because it’s over.

But there was no escape this time for Malinin, or his parents. This was the Olympics, and his routine was just beginning. He stopped short of executing his quads and fell not once, but twice.

We expressed shock and awe at what we were seeing, in the media and elsewhere. The broadcasters and crowd in Milan slipped into stunned, uncomfortable silence.

Malinin, 21, the U.S. and world champion and overwhelming favorite to win the men’s singles free skate, would finish eighth.

But was it really that shocking?

Malinin admitted to Christine Brennan and Brian Boitano, in our Milan Magic podcast leading up to the Olympics, that he starts to feel his nerves around the six-minute warmup before an event. But he had usually been able to get lost in the process, not thinking about medals but getting lost in normalcy of his routine and what he needs to do within it.

Not this time.

‘The pressure of the Olympics really gets you,” Malinin said afterward. “The pressure is unreal. It’s almost like I wasn’t aware of where I was in the program. Usually I have more time and more feeling of how it is, but this time, it all went by so fast, and I really didn’t have time to make those changes or make that process different.”

Think of our own kids. We don’t need to put the weight of expectations on them. Often, they do enough of it themselves, even if they are a picture of confidence leading up to events.

Malinin’s failure was a teaching moment for all of us — young athletes, parents, and otherwise — but it’s not a disaster unless we allow it to be.

“I was a Duke undergrad way back when. And so I still had that mindset of everything has to be perfect,” Aaron Dinin, now a professor at the university who teaches a course called “Learning to Fail,” told USA TODAY Sports late last year.

“You wind up with these kind of weird phrases like, ‘Fail fast’ and ‘embrace failure.’ And I’m like, ‘No, failure stinks. That’s the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard.’ It’s not good to fail. It’s just also not bad to fail. It’s just natural.”

Dinin said he intentionally gives students poor mid-semester grades to see how they react.

Here are three steps to consider after our young athletes fail, whether they are Malinin or youth recreational players:

Should we really expect any athlete, even Ilia Malinin, to be successful all the time?

As adolescents, our brains are not fully formed until we are about 25. It just takes a small moment to knock them off course.

‘I blew it,’ Malinin said after his Feb. 13 performance. ‘That’s honestly the first thing that came to my mind, there’s no way that just happened. I was preparing the whole season, I felt so confident with my programs, so confident with everything. That happened, I have no words, honestly.’

Facing up to heavy competition, and expectations, whether from our parents or others, is difficult. Malinin now has the experience of his first Olympics, where he won gold as part of the figure skating team event, under his belt. 

After his heart-wrenching singles performance, he was caught on a hot mic talking about how things would have unfolded differently had he gone to the 2022 Beijing Games.

‘Beijing, I would not have skated like that,’ he was heard saying. NBC commentator Johnny Weir told viewers he said he would not have skated so terribly had he already had Olympic experience under his belt. 

Now he has it, and he can get better from it if he allows the experience to soak in. The first step is giving ourselves grace to accept what has happened and we’ll get better from it.

We can learn to embrace the hype, but not the negativity

It’s OK to be confident in ourselves, especially when we have put in as much work to get where we are as Malinin or any Olympic athlete.

We can give ourselves, or our teammates, playful nicknames like “Quad God” to help keep things light during our grueling work to get there.

“People should keep in mind that we’re also human beings and we’re not robots,” Malinin told NBC Sports last year. “A couple of my friends who’ve been thrown off by just a few comments, don’t want to skate anymore because they don’t want to deal with that. The strongest ones can go through it, and either suppress it or push it away. But also addressing it is a way to show your power, because you’re owning your own spot in this.”

Malinin said that in responding to critical comments about him at the ISU Challenger Series Lombardia Trophy in Italy.

But why even look at them? Larissa Mills, who directs the London, Ontario-based Mental Game Academy and has worked with thousands of athletes from the youth through professional levels, says we can ‘tank’ our performance if we look at our phones before competing.

‘The brain takes 22 minutes to go back to refocusing,’ Mills told USA TODAY Sports last year. ‘We’ve wasted an inning, a period, a half on poor decision-making skills. So why did you bother? Don’t even go on the ice, as far as I’m concerned.”

Social media can be a crucial tool for young athletes to promote themselves for coaches as they try to reach the next level. But stop there. Instead of scrolling to see what people are saying about you, Mills suggests you come up with a personal mantra that you have in your head when you compete that validates what you have been doing:  I am powerful, I am fast, I am strong.

Remember, our kids need our support, even if they’re Ilia Malinin

Malinin’s father, Roman Skorniakov, and mother, Tatiana Malinina, are former Olympians who represented Uzbekistan at two Olympics. Malinin told Brennan and Brian Boitano his parents didn’t want him to go into figure skating because of what it took out of them.

His father’s reaction was gut-wrenching, and it was human. But Ilia will likely see a replay of it, if he already hasn’t.

Now dad’s job is to tell his son that what happened is OK. Our heroes, and our kids, are vulnerable, especially when they’re in their early 20s. Sometimes we just need to tell them what they have already accomplished is extraordinary.

As for what happened Feb. 13, we can follow the words Malinin later says in his free skate song: ‘Embrace the storm. You are something but not nothing. Past is not a chain but a thread; pull it, and it may lead you home.’ 

A large photo of Malinin hangs on the wall of a skating complex where my nephew plays hockey. He is from our area, Northern Virginia, and has likely inspired thousands of kids.  

It’ll be inspiring for them to know he failed, and they can, too

Borelli, aka Coach Steve, has been an editor and writer with USA TODAY since 1999. He spent 10 years coaching his two sons’ baseball and basketball teams. He and his wife, Colleen, are now sports parents for two high schoolers. His Coach Steve column is posted weekly. For his past columns, click here.